Several months after the passage of storm Daniel, which caused enormous damage in Thessaly, destitute residents want to rebuild their villages.
Four months after the passage of storm Daniel, in Greece, which devastated the region of Thessaly, in the center of the country, causing significant flooding, and where 17 people lost their lives during these bad weather.
Villages in Thessaly are struggling to rebuild, the inhabitants are destitute as in the commune of Vlochos, where many have left their homes because of the floods. Today, they hope to be able to return.
Ioannis Koukas is a resident of Vlochos:
_”We are trying to take advantage of the good weather conditions to clean our houses, our warehouses and everything that we managed to save. Our few belongings need to be dried. Certainly after the summer we hope that we can return to our homes. We want to return to our village.”
The village’s primary school suffered serious damage, the students will no longer be able to attend classes there, and the authorities have ruled that the building cannot be rebuilt.
This rich plain, once known for its agricultural land and farm animals, has still not recovered after the storm. The violence of the disaster swept away fields, gardens and certain diving animals in its path.
It is a hard blow for the region’s economy but farmers intend to recover from this difficult ordeal like Dimitra Xanthi, breeder and farmer:
“We have no food for the animals and we have lost 80 sheep. The water destroyed everything. In our fields there is no production, we have not produced any fruits or vegetables. However, we will not give up, we will fight for our lives and for the future of our children.”
The residents are angry with the country’s authorities, according to them, nothing would have been done to help them. On the other hand, they were able to count on a surge of solidarity both from Greeks but also from foreign countries
Evangelia Routa – Volunteer – President of the cultural association of the village of Metamorfosi:
“We are very grateful to the volunteers and everyone who helped us. We are moved by the solidarity they showed. They sent us a lot of things. We distribute them to each family, so that no one is harmed”
A few years ago, people in the region may not have known what exactly climate change or climate crisis meant. After suffering losses and suffering, they ask the State for substantial assistance to rebuild their place of life. They also ask for flood prevention work, in order to avoid further human and material losses.